Gr. doxa. In the Bible doxa seems to have two main and somewhat different usages, though both are based upon the original meaning, in classical Greek, of “opinion,” “notion,” “repute.” It is often used to signify “honor,” “fame,” “recognition” (John 5:44; 7:18; etc.). In this sense it is opposed to “dishonor” (1 Cor. 11:14, 15; 15:43; 2 Cor. 6:8). In this sense it is sought (John 5:44; 7:18; 1 Thess. 2:6), received (John 5:41, 44), given (Luke 17:18; John 9:24), ascribed to God (Luke 2:14; Rev. 1:6).

 If this is Paul’s usage of the term here in Rom. 3:23, then “the glory of God” means the honor, praise, or approbation that God bestows and from which men have fallen short. Since Paul is dealing in this passage with man’s standing before God, and refers in the next verse to justification, the only means by which a man may be restored to the approval and approbation of God, this sense of the term “glory” may be appropriate in this context.

 On the other hand, “glory” is also used in the Bible to signify “brightness” “glorious appearance which attracts the eye” (see Matt. 4:8; Luke 12:27; Acts 22:11). It is sometimes used in a sense parallel with “image,” “likeness,” “form,” “appearance” (see Rom. 1:23; cf. the LXX of Num. 12:8, which has doxa for “similitude”). The glory revealed to Moses (Ex. 33:18, 22) was the character of God—goodness, mercy, forgiveness (see GW 417). This glory may also be reflected in those of God’s creatures who are capable of knowing and loving and growing like their Maker. Thus Paul speaks of man as “the image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7), doubtless because he is capable of receiving and reflecting God’s glory. The complete revelation of the glory and perfection of God is “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

 As this glory of God revealed in Christ shines forth from the gospel into the heart and mind of the believer, it transforms him into “light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8). Thus “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). The hope and aspiration of the Christian is more and more fully to participate in the glory of God (see Rom. 5:2; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 2:14).

If “the glory of God” be understood more in this latter sense, to “come short of the glory of God” would mean to have come short of the perfection of God, to have lost His image, and to have become destitute of His likeness.

Perhaps these two interpretations are not mutually exclusive, and both make good sense in this verse.

 Gr. hustereō, used elsewhere with the meaning “to suffer need” (Phil. 4:12), “to be destitute” (Heb. 11:37), “to be in want” (Luke 15:14). In the account of the marriage feast at Cana, hustereo is used to report that the supply of wine had failed (John 2:3). The Greek indicates that sinners still continue to fall short. Moreover, the particular form of the verb may express not only the fact of falling short but also the awareness of the lack. If such is the case here, the verb could be translated “consciously continue to fall short.” This sense of loss has led men everywhere to attempt to establish their own righteousness by works of law.

 Literally, “all sinned.” Adam’s sin marred the divine image in man (see on ch. 5:12; cf. GW 80), and ever since man’s fall, all of Adam’s descendants have continued to fall short and be destitute of the image and glory of God (see below under “glory”). Paul is urging Jews and Gentiles alike to recognize the vital fact that all the evidence of experience and history clearly proves that fallen man, with his depraved nature, is wholly incapable of fulfilling the requirements of God’s law and of establishing his own righteousness. The only possible way to obtain righteousness is by faith in Jesus Christ. By this experience of faith men are once again brought into a right relation with God (ch. 3:24), new hearts are created within them, and they are thus enabled by faith to live once again in obedience to God’s law (see on ch. 5:1).